Spice & Nut Tools

Just as you use specialized tools such as pepper mills to grind peppercorns, it makes good sense to use a specific tool to grind or crack spices and nuts. From spicy, tasty seeds, such as nutmeg, to hard-shelled nuts like walnuts, the right tools can make a huge difference in the way you use and enjoy the ingredients in your kitchen. Williams-Sonomaʼs spice tools and nut tools offer you versatility for expanding your culinary horizons while also helping you reduce the chances of undesirable flavor transfer from one piece of equipment to another. This product category will help you access better-quality ingredients by allowing you to do prep work at home.

As with all foods, spices have a shelf life. Spices like cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and fennel do lose flavor in time. A bland-flavored spice defeats the purpose for which it was intended. Bottled, ground spices are convenient and are must-have seasonings for every kitchen. If youʼre ready to elevate your approach to flavoring, our spice grinders may be just right for you. These tools give you the power to make your own spice blends and keep seeds, which have a longer shelf life, in your spice drawer until youʼre ready to use them.

Nutmeg is a great example of a spice derived from a seed that you can grind at home. Whether youʼre using it for baking or cooking, nutmeg tastes amazing when its freshly ground. Our nutmeg grinders allow you to grate off small portions of this large, dark seed so you can get pungent, flavorful spice on demand. Nutmeg is particularly prized for being a spice thatʼs easy to grind at home, but your efforts to pursue fresh spice flavor donʼt need to end there.

With our spice grinders, you can create your own curry powder from scratch, whip up some Chinese five-spice powder or simply grind mustard seeds for your own homemade version of this classic yellow condiment. While you can use an electric coffee grinder for this task, it's a better idea to have a separate spice grinder if youʼre a frequent coffee drinker and prolific cook. That way, you wonʼt have to worry about flavor transfer, that is, you wonʼt wake up one morning and freshly grind some coffee that ends up tasting like curry. While that may not be an undesirable prospect for some, it might not be so great for guests or family members with food allergies.

Our spice and nut tool options are also great if you have friends or family who have celiac disease or a diagnosable gluten intolerance. Grinding nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts, into a fine powder can give you an excellent wheat flour substitute for homemade baking mixes. Ground nuts can also be useful for coating meat or fish, whether youʼre making almond-crusted halibut or a pistachio-crusted rack of lamb. If you simply want to be able to open shelled nuts in order to roughly chop them for a recipe or just snack on them whole, we have nutcrackers and other nut tools to help you get the job done.

From cracking up some cloves for an infused hot cider to grinding almonds into a fine, flour-like consistency, our spice tools and nut tools can help make your culinary dreams become a reality. Using specifically designed tools to do things like crack hard-shelled nuts, grind spice blends and infuse wine with mulling spices helps prevent cross-contamination and flavor transfer across different types of tools in your kitchen. Whether you know individuals with food allergies and other dietary restrictions or not, having the right equipment makes a huge difference in your ability to create delicious cuisine.